now i would just like to point out that i only just grasped that but...
why dont you make it so that then you have your own unique number linked to ur account, not ur name so that then even if u change ur username ur account(ie:pms secrets etc)are kept the same as a link but all the other info is changed.

Do it.
No one needs a different username, It just confuses me.
Like a reg is JoJoNuts, then HardCock, And Im like WHO THE FUCK IS HARDCOCK
An there like JoJoNuts, And Im like no wai.
Then they change it to DoubleBrow, AND IM WTF LOL
Basically your username is what people no you by.

At 11/6/06 08:39 PM, MrMonopoly wrote:
You should make it so the user must PM you to request an alias change.

Wouldn't that be wonderful. :)

When I first heard about teh name changes or whatever, I thought that is what you had to do. So, thats what I did and wondered why I had never got a reply back, haha. (prolly because of mass messages in inbox).

Hm...This is neat that we're going to have our own individual pages now. I must ask, are we still going to have the pop up profiles or not? Like, what if a username on the site is one that represents the creators of a project as a whole(TLG Media, etc) therefore meaning it'll just be a business page then? Like, on the page could they have it where it'll link to their individual profiles if they have them? You click a name, and a popup profile page opens?

Also, what if someone just creates audio for the audio portal and doesn't make flash animations or games. Would their page look different than others? Would that have a player that would sample their creations? Would flash animators be able to put in an html tag that'll have a streaming player with their flash movie(s) on it? Same with those who solely create games. What if someone just programs for people and stuff, would they have a "special" page also?

I'm not saying all that stuff, as if its going to be another Myspace or some crap. In fact, I know it wont be myspace for sure, Newgrounds doesn't crash like every ten minutes - /sarcasm - like Myspace does. Those of Newgrounds actually know how to keep a high traffic site up kept.

I say you should make username locking. It'll eliminate a lot of hassle, and if users don't like it, well I think they'll get over it. They should understand that you're adding the new features for them/us anyway and that'll it will make the experience better in the long run.

K.... first of all I wanna say... GO FOR IT! Its an utter waste of time to rename your account, I mean whats the point?&#10;&#10;If we're gonna get something better for it, then I dont see the problem!

Isn't it possible to make the actual user URLs be userID.newgrounds.com (eg 3774859.newgrounds.com), which will be permenant, and then have re-directs. Eg, if the user 000001 has the alias John, then john.newgrounds.com will be redirected to 000001.newgrounds.com (By redirect, i mean, so that it displays 000001.newgrounds.com, but the URL displayed at the top still sayd john.newgrounds.com.

Alternitively, how about you can change your alias, but your URL doesn't change with it. It just remains the same as what it was at the turnover. Although that may get confusing.

I wouldn't mind never being able to change my alias. People would get used to it. I didn't even know it was possible to change my alias for the first few months of my NG life.

Surely it's possible to make the links change to fit the alias as the alias changes though? I'm not great with PHP, but their must be a function which retrieves the URL of the current page. Would it not be possible to use PHP to base all links on the part of the URL, rather than the username.

So if it's john.newgrounds.com, you create a string which is the john part using some function which can get the URL, and then in all links, where you would usually have john, replace it with $name, or whatever the vairable is.

At 11/6/06 08:26 PM, TomFulp wrote:
We've been faced with a dilemma for a while now that doesn't have any great solution. With the eventual introduction of user pages, user URLs will become much more prominent destinations. For example, I'm hoping lots of people will check out tomfulp.newgrounds.com once it comes into existence. :)

The question is... Do we allow users to change their names at this point? If you change your name, you are essentially changing your URL, meaning all existing links to your page will become dead links.

It has never been a problem in the past because the profile URL is based on your unique ID #. Since user pages will be tied to your name, the only option is to make your name a permanent identifier, otherwise users could create dead links at will and it would make the site a lot less organized over time.

I get this bad feeling that people will totally freak out at the thought of not being able to change their names. Plenty of sites already don't allow you to change your name, but people are accustomed to the option here on NG. Then again, are name changes really necessary or is it a feature that people abuse in the first place?

Consider this post a sort of heads up... There's a chance your name might go on lockdown, so be sure it's the name you want to have. This is also a chance for everyone to share their opinions concerning this course of action. Go for it.

I don't know if this had been said yet, but make it like this: Username is the name that defines the URL, and Display Name is what the author is displayed as. So if my user name is MarcusRaven, and I decide for my display name to be something else, the username stays the same, but all my author listings will be what i want. (Like my real name or something.) That way people still have the option to change their auther name.

Hey, you could always do this:
1) Give a URL for a username
2) If a username is changed it would metaredirect (if you are using SSI) or URL forward (could be done with PHP or the like) to the new username
3) If an old username [that redirects to a new username] is reestablished (by the old user or a new user) then it would point to the current user instead of redirecting

I know that might be a little intensive, and who knows what it would do to a serverload. Of coarse, if a username was reestablished to a new user then the link to that page would be out of context and irrelevant.

Of course, having a userpage like the current profiles (except ID# as the prefix instead of the folder) or even a larger page version of the current profiles are also options.

I think having the option to change your name while retaining your account is an attractive ability.

At 11/7/06 02:52 PM, FBIpolux wrote:
I always have had the same username so it's not really a problem for me... But I like seeing people change their names time by time and it'd be sad if this feature was lost :(

Maybe a dead link moderator would do the job?

And an actually cool down on the username change (a couple of days) so you can't spam Newgrounds by changing your username and making new URLs...

By users page you mean some sort of enhanced pubic profile or like a myspace or something?
Or Is it like a my yahoo homepage?

thats great but you have to options:
1. user ID numbers as URLS
2. only provide users the option to have a users page by activation, which the user most agree that the user may not be able to change there users name from that point on.

If you change your name, your old name will still redirect to your new page until someone takes your old name. At that point, a message would appear at the top of the new user's profile with the message "One other person has used this name in the past. For his new username, please go here."

Well I'm happy with my username Stealth-Annihilator and I won't be too pissed if I get locked down with that, I may one day wish to change my name, but it's no biggie to me

I'm wondering like others have suggested about, still keeping the ability to change usenames at will, and link to a page with a number instead, so that way if people want to check out your profile page, then they can either click wherever they see your username listed (username becoming a link to profile page) or people can just perform a search for a particular username, and then click from the list of names that get displayed

Though Tom would it not be possible to have 2 names stored in 2 fields of the database, one of which being changeable, whilst the other one perhaps becoming the key field in that database and remaining the same

either way I'm not fussed if a lockdown does occur, but I love the fact that NG has the function there, unlike any other site